The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released its most recent report on access in the United States to high-speed Internet connections, continuing to document the gap between current service levels and the benchmark Internet connection speeds recommended under the Commission’s National Broadband Plan.
According to the Commission’s report, entitled “Internet Access Services: Status as of June 2010,” 60% of fixed Internet connections to U.S. households fall below the targets set in the National Broadband Plan of 4 megabits per second (Mbps) downstream and 1 Mpbs upstream. Further, the growth of fixed broadband service slowed to 1% during the first half of 2010, to 82 million connections.
However, taking a broader look at Internet adoption trends over a10 year period, the Commission reports that residential fixed-location Internet connections faster than 200 kbps in at least one direction have grown from 3 million in June 2000 to 82 million in June 2010, a compounded annual growth rate of 35% a year. During the same period, the penetration of Internet connections has increased from 3 connections per 100 households to 63 connections per 100 households.
As for Internet access via mobile wireless devices, the number of mobile wireless service subscribers with data plans for full Internet access increased by 27% over the first six months of 2010, to 71 million.
Read the complete text of the Commission’s most recent report on high-speed Internet access.
